“You Can’t Do It Alone”

I consider myself, and our family, to be pretty well prepared for most eventualities. I’ve evaluated our needs and tried to plan our preps accordingly, including building in redundancies. I’ve also considered the emergencies/disasters, big and small, that we may have to deal with and tried to plan for them. Not only have we acquired much of the proper equipment we’d need, but we’ve also developed many of the required skill-sets, and mental attitudes.

But on Thanksgiving day The Universe took the time to clearly teach me:

1. YOU CAN NOT BE PREPARED FOR EVERYTHING
2. YOU CAN NOT THINK OF EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO BE PREPARED FOR
(and most importantly)
3. YOU WILL NEED HELP FROM OTHERS

In an accidental incident–that even though I know how I did it, I’m still not sure how I did it–I got my car stuck between a rock and a hard place. Literally.

Ryan and I were in my Hyundai Accent, driving to meet with family in West Seattle (Sarah had gone up earlier). The house is in an older neighborhood and difficult to find, so we were following the iPhone mapping directions. We were almost there and the map showed that the road we were on went through, when in fact it didn’t. We turned where we thought we were supposed to, driving up a very steep, narrow road (that ended up being a paved driveway). When we got to the top we realized our error, and I began backing down.

It was kind of slippery from the recent rain and wet leaves. There was an angled turn-off and decided to use it to turn around and drive down correctly. The angle of the turnout was more than I expected, and it was also steeper; as I backed up the tires began to spin on the wet pavement and leaves. I decided I had gone far enough, put it in 1st gear and tried to turn down the hill. Not enough yet, so reverse again, tires slipping, not much progress. I cranked the wheel hard to the left, back into 1st gear and, inadvertently, drove over the side of the turnout — there was the associated grinding and scraping as I went over the large rocks that bordered the driveway. The car was now almost perpendicular across the driveway with the front of the car against the fence (fortunately a 6×6 fence post). Back into reverse, to straighten the car out out, and…nothing? Tires spinning. What? We got out and discovered that the rear of the car was hanging by the bumper on the large rocks and the back tires were about four inches off the ground.

Ryan and I stood back to survey the scene. The front of the car was wedged against the fence post, and the back of the car was stuck on top of, and against, these large rocks. I was sort of stunned, I felt incredibly stupid, wished there was some way I could blame Ryan, and really wasn’t sure how I was going to get out of this.

We opened the back, which contains our car bug out bag (BOB), a large crowbar, a wool blanket, and a scissor jack — those are the tools we had to work with. I pulled out the crowbar and looked around, there was no way to pry or lift or anything, I put it back. I got out the jack to see if there was anyway I could lift the car up off the rocks — but I couldn’t see anyway to do it safely that wouldn’t cause more damage to the car (and likely us).

Ryan and I tried to see if we could lift up the rear end (it’s a sub-compact), but all we did was raise up the shocks. I really had no idea what to do, I knew I should call Sarah and let her know what had happened but I really wanted a to come up with a solution before I did. I considered a tow truck, but knew since it was a holiday it would take forever, and I wasn’t sure what even a tow truck could do.

I called Sarah and she send down her brother (David) and cousin’s husband (Chason). They got there soon after, evaluated the situation, and we debated. We decided, with the additional help, to again try and lift up the back of the car off the rocks and swing it around to the correct angle. The four of us lifted, and still no luck, but it looked like the idea had potential. Chason went back to get more help and David (helpfully) suggested it as a topic for the blog.

Soon afterward all the able bodied men from the Thanksgiving gathering were there to help. We positioned ourselves around the back end of the car, being as safe and careful as possible, and were able to lift the car off the rocks and move it into the needed position. Fortunately there was almost no damage to the car, and the fence would only need very minor repairs (we left a note on the residence explaining what happened).

Once successful, and with everyone chuckling about what had happened, we all went up to enjoy a Thanksgiving day with family. My place in the family Thanksgiving lore had been ensured.

Take Away Lesson
I could not have handled this alone. I had never considered this situation happening, and had no preparations in place to deal with it. Had this been during a disaster when emergency services wouldn’t be available the only way this could have been done is with the help from others. Without that help the only option would have been to abandon the car and walk, which in bad weather or with people unable to walk far, could be dangerous or even life-threatening.

Develop community around you. Develop strong relationships with your family and friends. Get to know you neighbors around you so you can ask for, and provide, help for them.

No one can do it alone — that plan will fail.